1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article sorting device for moving and sorting a predetermined article among articles conveyed on a main conveyance route onto a branch route.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an article sorting device provided with a plurality of slats (article support bodies) overlaying between a pair of endless chains (endless rotation bodies) arranged along a main conveyance route, and shoes (article lateral pressing bodies) fitted onto the slats slidably in a longitudinal direction of the slats, and guided by a branch guide member provided in a fixed direction relative to the main conveyance route is used.
For example, JP 2006-273436 A describes an article sorting device capable of enhancing strength without increasing weight of shoes. JP 2006-273433 A describes an article sorting device capable of performing lateral pressing movement at an initial stage in a state that shoes do not nip an article. JP 2006-273434 A describes an article sorting device provided with slats on which other objects are not easily hung up, the slats capable of protecting guide portions of leg plate portions. JP 2006-273435 A describes an article sorting device for preventing that guide portions of slats are deformed at the time of forward and backward movement of shoes, so that the forward and backward movement cannot be stably performed.
However, in these article sorting devices, the shoes are sometimes damaged due to sliding resistance when the shoes slide relative to the slats in the longitudinal direction of the slats. Particularly, when a predetermined article is pressed in the longitudinal direction of the slats in order to sort the article onto a branch route, excessive moment is applied to the shoes by pressing force from the branch guide member and reactive force from the article, so that the shoes are sometimes damaged. In a state that the damaged shoes remain in an article sorting equipment, there is sometimes a case where engagement members of a distributing means for converting a state that the shoes are conveyed along the main conveyance route into a state that the shoes are guided by the branch guide member cannot be engaged with the shoes to convert the direction of the shoes, and thus, the predetermined article sometimes cannot be sorted. Since the shoes sometimes do not slide in the longitudinal direction of the slats due to the damage, the predetermined article sometimes cannot be reliably pressed and moved in the longitudinal direction of the slats by the shoes.